Her Gift's
by Tater-GG
Summary: Just a little Luke-centered story that popped into my head.


_A/N: I hope you all like my little story. If you do: that is great! If you don't, that's ok too, because everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. If you like my little fic, it'd be nice to see a review.  
_

_Disclaimer: Yeah don't own anything, not even the computer I wrote it on._  
  
**Her Gift's  
**  
He didn't always hate Christmas, even though many would say he did. It was just when he looked around and felt alone did he hate Christmas. When he was little, it was always fun for a while, but then his mom got sick, and she was taken from the world before anyone was willing to let her go.  
  
His dad tried hard to give him and Liz a nice Christmas, but no matter what he always missed her. The little things about her, he found out stung his heart the most. The way she would hum when she made her secret recipe Santa Clause cookies, and how she specially waited for him to decorate them. The way she picked out a new ornament for him and Liz each year and didn't let them see it till it was time to decorate the tree. She somehow always could find that perfect gift. He knew his dad tried hard and God bless his soul, but his mom had some 6th sense about what he wanted...even when he never said anything.  
  
When he was nine he started to find out his love for cooking. He was way to embarrassed to tell anyone, but that Christmas, after he and Liz ripped through all their gifts and were busy enjoying them, he went into his room and found a neatly wrapped gift sitting perfectly in the middle of his bed. When his curiosity got the better of him, he made his way over to his bed...he saw the card with the delicate writing that could only be classified as hers,  
  
"Lucas, Follow your heart and your dreams, no matter how silly you think they are. I love you and always will Mom".  
  
He really shouldn't have been that surprised when he opened the present and found a cookbook and some cooking utensils. Somehow his mom just knew, and it gave him this sense of peace. He never felt embarrassed about cooking with her after that. Each day when he came home from school, she was there with the cookbook, open to a new recipe they hadn't tried, and all the ingredients laid out. This was his and her time. Liz usually had some type of dance practice to be at, and his dad was always at the store. It was just him and her, and nothing could ever replace the feeling he got when they were just in the kitchen cooking together.  
  
The Christmas after she died was a hard one for him. The death of her had taken his toll on his father and Liz was never home. He spent that Christmas hauled up in his room, wishing he would never hear those damn carols, or any holly jolly cheer. It wasn't fair that everyone else in Star's Hollow was happy, while his family missed the angel on top of their tree. Every Christmas was spent the same, in his room, listening to some rock band, trying so hard to never forget the memories of her humming around the kitchen. And then his dad started getting sick, and he felt that he would never get over the loss of another parent.  
  
On Christmas Eve, his father was starting to take a turn for the worse. William called him into the room where he was laying in bed, because he refused to die in a hospital. Luke timidly made his way over to his side and looked at him with questioning eyes.  
  
"She always felt that Christmas was magical." As William stared out the window: as if wishing her to appear. "She told me when she was sick to make sure you had this when it was time for you to start choosing you career path.... I know I'm not going to make it much longer son, and I want you to have the Hardware store. You can do anything you want to it, just as long as Taylor doesn't have anything to say about it...I love you Luke and don't you ever forget that" As he finished his words his father handed him a box, beaten down with time.  
  
He gave his father a kiss on the cheek, and whispered that he loved him. He father didn't make it through the rest of the night, and was given the gift of joining his true love in heaven for Christmas.  
  
After all the arrangements were done and the funeral was over, he wondered what he would do with the Hardware store. He remembered the box his father gave him, and wondered up to the room he hadn't been able to step inside for a week. He found the box, sitting neatly in the center of the bed. When his curiosity got to him, he slowly made his way to it and found the card with the delicate writing that could only be classified as hers,  
  
"Lucas, You my son have a very special gift. Though some would say that cooking is not a gift, don't believe them. Food can breathe life into those who are starving, it can bring those who have found their way apart back together with a romantic dinner, and it will always bring you back to the kitchen and the memories of the fun and love we shared. Follow what you think is right, no matter how silly you think it is. I love you Mom"

After reading the card he gently opened the box. There laying in the box, was that old cookbook; tattered, torn, and splattered with stains that held the memories of some of their mishaps. Under the cookbook, in the same delicate writing, was her secret santa cookie recipe.  
  
She always knew...even 10 years ago she knew exactly what he would need at this moment. As he walked back down to the Hardware store, he knew his calling was to make it into a diner. He figured this way he was able to keep the memory of both his parents alive, his father with the sign and the walls, and his mother through his cooking. Although nobody knew about her and his afternoons cooking, she lived on in his heart.  
  
Years later, as he looked at his wife, he knew Lorelai was another one of those secret presents from her. Only she could understand how Lorelai was perfect for him. She sent her to him to cook for, and he did, and he will for the rest of his life.  
  
He occasionally catches himself humming when he makes the Secret Santa cookies for his kids, and he knows that she's standing right there humming along with him, waiting for her grandkids to decorate them.

Hope you liked it!!


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